“Calculation of the Cost of An Adequate Education in Tennessee in 2001-02 Using the Professional Judgment Approach and the Successful School District Approach”

“An Estimation of the Total Cost in 2002-03 of Implementing the Results of the School Finance Adequacy Study Undertaken By Augenblick, Palaich and Associates, Inc.”

December 2003, October 2004

For both methodological approaches, NCLB’s 100 percent proficiency by 2014 goals wre included in the definition.

For the professional judgment approach: students gain a year’s average growth (compared to national norm); average score for elementary schools at national average; Average ACT scores of 19, SAT scores of 910; school average is “competent” in writing; 80 percent of freshmen pass competency tests in language and math; elementary attendance levels of 95 percent and middle and high school attendance of 93 percent; 97 percent of K-8 students promoted to the next grade each year; high school drop-out rate of less than 10 percent.

For the successful school districts approach: “successful districts” had a “B” grade or better on all academic achievement tests, all value-added tests, all non-academic indicators (attendance, promotion, dropout); had 80 percent of all students proficient or advanced on gateway tests in algebra and biology.

$1.1 billion in 2002-2003 to reach adequacy standards as defined above

Professional Judgment Approach
$6,207 per pupil in very large districts
$6,640 per pupil in large districts
$7,035 per pupil in moderate size districts
$6,945 per pupil in small districts
(The authors claim that these estimates reflect the cost of meeting state and the federal NCLB’s 100 percent proficiency targets – which is extremely optimistic in our view)

Additional per pupil costs of educating special needs students not reflected in these estimates (depending on district size):
$1,704-$1,336 for “at-risk” (as measured by the number of low-income) students
$2,955-$20,990 for mildly-severely special education students
$2,904-$4,464 for LEP students

Successful School Districts Approach
$4,949 per pupil, with a range of $4,568-$6,877
(Estimates reflect the cost of meeting the majority of state objectives, but not all)

Use the lower estimate as the base cost and craft a schedule to meet the higher figure, plus inflation, by 2014.
Allow districts to achieve the higher figure by creating a “second tier” of state aid, allowing districts to spend above the base but not exceed the higher estimate’s base cost. (i.e., between $4,950 and $6,200).

Per pupil costs are broken down by district size.

Professional Judgment Approach
Added costs of educating specific students:
50-350 percent more for special education students of mild-severe disability
22 percent more for students “at risk” (assessed by number of students receiving free lunch)
60-90 percent more (depending on district size) for LEP students
Excludes the cost of preschool services, which was strongly supported by participants but would likely be funded separately by the state; includes tutoring, summer, distance learning, gateway programs, and before/after school program costs.

Successful School Districts Approach
The Tennessee Department of Education had to twice lower their definition of a successful school for the purposes of the study, since no district scored an A or a B on all 33 of the state report card components. Eight districts met 28 of the 33 requirements at the reduced level, enrolling 10 percent of the state’s students – these districts formed the basis for the estimate.

This model has not been implemented, although certain features may be enacted separately, e.g. high quality preschool and technology funding.

Professional Judgment Approach
Nine panels with a total of 66 educators; school-level, district-level, and system-wide panels. Four school-level panels designed to specify the needs of a prototype district, four district-level panels reviewed these costs and articulated the district resource needs for each district, and finally a system-wide panel reviewed the work of all the district panels and specified prices of personnel resources.

Successful School Districts Approach
First, consultants identified base expenditures for all Tennessee districts, excluding expenditures for special needs students, food service, and transportation. Dollars for cost of living differences or district size were also subtracted from the estimates. Researchers found base per pupil expenditures for all districts to be $4,673, which was slightly lower than the estimate for the eight districts labeled as “successful.”

Professional Judgment: Used number of students eligible for free or reduced price lunch as a proxy for the number of students at risk of academic failure. Excludes facilities/debt service, transportation, food service, and preschool costs.

Successful School Districts: Does not include supplemental costs for special education, at-risk students, or LEP students, since these data were not available.

Both analyses focused on total costs, not broken down by local, state and federal monies.

None.

The Coalition for Tennessee’s Future